Distribution Map Newspaper Filed With Bid for Contract Is a
Public Record, Lawyer for Beverly
Hills Says

By a MetNews Staff
Writer

A distribution map
submitted to the City of Beverly Hills by a newspaper seeking
a public notice contract is a public record, the chief assistant city attorney
said Friday.

Roxanne M. Diaz, of the Los Angeles office of Richards,
Watson & Gerson, the city’s contract lawyers, said in a letter to Beverly
Hills Weekly publisher/chief executive officer Josh Gross—a copy of which was
obtained by the MetNews—that the city could not keep the information
confidential, despite the newspaper’s request that it do so.

Gross’ paper competes
with the Beverly Hills Courier, an older paper that at
one time published the city’s notices exclusively. The city currently places
notices in both papers.

When the city sent out a
bid notice last year, it required all bidders to “submit evidene of their
newspaper delivery area within the City of Beverly Hills.” Gross provided a map,
along with a copy of the paper’s distributor verification, along with a cover
letter saying the documents were ěa protected trade secretî that should not be
provided to ěour competitors or the general public.î

But Diaz noted that
confidentiality had never been promised. And since the document is now in the
city’s possession and relates to city business, the California Public Records
Act requires that the city comply with the Courier’s CPRA request for the
documents unless the statutory exemption applies, the attorney explained.

Diaz indicated she was
unaware of any relevant exemption, and added that ěthe Uniform Trade Secret Act
does not affect the disclosure of a public record by a local agencyî under the
CPRA.

The city’s intent is to
release the records on Wednesday, she told Gross.

Gross said Friday he
does not intend to contest the release of the documents. He added that the
Courier has not provided the city with the requested information.